State of Agriculture Disaster remains in Cypress County despite recent moisture

By Samantha Johnson Special to the News on June 25, 2022.

The State of Agriculture Disaster declared by Cypress County at the June 7 council meeting remains in place despite the June rains.

Lisa Sulz, agricultural supervisor at Cypress County, said the moisture that has been received has been welcomed but, “because of several years of drought, high heat and winds, the earth is dry. The declaration will remain in place because there are parts of the county that have not seen as much precipitation. We are looking out for the best interests all our producers and southern Alberta.”

The declaration brings attention to provincial and federal governments.

“In the event that there is an abundance of those declarations throughout the province, they could potentially look at starting programs for producers,” said Sulz.

Cypress County continues to monitor to see what Mother Nature throws its way. Typically, the beginning of July is a turning point, bringing much hotter weather.

Nichole Neubauer of Neubauer Farms has seen about five inches of rain at their place west of Medicine Hat and four inches on their land closer to the Saskatchewan border, where it is typically drier.

“We’ve been under such extreme drought since 2017 so it is really reassuring to see that it can remember how to rain again,” said Neubauer.

Kelly Van Ham, board director of Alberta Sugar Beet Growers for Burdett and Bow Island, has seen about three inches of rain at his farm near Bow Island.

“It has made a huge difference on our dryland especially,” said Van Ham. “We know there is no subsoil moisture but for now the crop is carrying off the rain we got. Right now, we are optimistic that we are going to get some yield off these crops.”

Van Ham stated it was too late in the season, unless a huge dump of rain occurs, to build up the subsoil moisture this year.